Get a taste of other cultures Saturday

Mall to host heritage festival

By Sarah Stultz | Albert Lea Tribune

Published Friday, November 27, 2009

Area residents will be able to learn more about Albert Lea’s heritage on Saturday during the first-ever Taste of Heritage Festival at Northbridge Mall.

The festival, which goes from 1 to 3 p.m., will feature displays of Albert Lea’s past, present and future, said Teresa Kauffmann, city public information coordinator, who is also one of the organizers.

Kauffmann said she and the other organizers hope people will be able to learn about the different nationalities of people who have lived in Albert Lea in the past or who are living here currently.

“I think there will be nationalities at the festival that I think people don’t realize live here,” she said.

For example, many people probably don’t realize there is a large population of Cuban residents in the community and Burmese residents as well, she said.

Nationalities participating in the Saturday event include Scandinavian (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish), German, Czech, Korean, Mexican, Cuban, Karen (Burmese), Native American, Irish and Dutch.

The festival will feature live entertainment of Aztec dancers, Cuban singer Viviana Pintabo, who has been nominated three times for a Latin Grammy Award, and a group of Burmese singers.

There will also be food samples from La Guadalupana, Plaza Morena and El Jarocho, along with other Korean, Cuban and Irish samples.

“I think this is a great opportunity for our community to see how many cultures there are,” said Albert Lea Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Susie Petersen. “It’s a great time of year. We give thanks for a lot of things that we take for granted, and this is a time to share our culture.”

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